Venaya & Poetry in the High Desert, Bluff, UT

Upcoming event in the Beautyful land of Bluff, Utah. Reading among these poets is a blessing. Happy Fall vibes!

Other events will be taking place too during the Bluff Arts Festival that same weekend!

Jane Werito Yazzie my maternal grandmother's birthday

Today September 15, 2026 would have been her 96th birthday. Woman of the Hooghanli clan kinship. I imagine her Jane Werito Yazzie, my maternal grandmother, and think of how beautiful she would have been. After she left this earth life seemed impossibly lonely, but life and God had His plan in place and slowly life became okay. I miss her and her presence of love and compassion. Today I recognize and celebrate her life live here in this space.

Everyday I got to be present with her was a blessing, she brought joy and goodness wherever we roamed together. "Mom" was my sanctuary, she was my rock. What a blessing in life to have her by my side. Happy Birthday I love you!

Fashion in Southwest Cultural Adornment by Venaya Yazzie at Bears Ears Education Center

In September at Bears Ears Education Center Join us!

Matrilocal in Eastern Dine'

Eastern Navajoland

As Dine' (Navajo) people we exist under the identity of our maternal kinship relationships. Although we as a collective are living within the country of American culture, most of us live under the umbrella of a matriarchal governance stystem. We are born from our Dine' mother's and we carry her kinship lineage via one of our many "clans" in the clanship system. It is by blood relation that we as Dine' inherit our ties to the matriarchs of our cultural landscapes across the vast lands of our homelands in New Mexico, Utah and northeastern Arizona. I am of the Hooghanlani' lineage of women in northwest New Mexico in the area called Dine'tah, 'where the People roam.' This area is the original lands inhabited by the Dine', through history many of the Navajo have journeyed westward to Arizona to what is now know as "Navajo Nation." The matriarchal system of the Dine' is still and always will be based on the lineage of women. We will always be the leaders of our homes and regional communities. Even amidst the perpetual adoption of Euro-American culture via colonization, we are Dine' and we are a matriarchy living and existing in our matrilocal areas. Blessings, VJ

Speaker of Culture in the Southwest: Venaya Yazzie